Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Buddhism

2007-09-10T01:29:33Z

Immaculada: /* View of God */

[[Image:China B.jpg|right]]
'''Buddhism''' is the fifth largest religion in the world. It is a belief system which teaches that desire causes suffering and if desire is eliminated, enlightenment and [[Nirvana]] are attained. Buddhism is a [[Dharmic religion]]. The term buddha means "the enlightened one."

==Founder==

Buddhism's foundations lie with an [[India|Indian]] prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who, after being sheltered until adulthood, finally observed the suffering of his people. After that he worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. He studied a number of the disciplines of the day, seeking ultimate truth. After finding other approaches to understanding lacking, he went into meditation for 49 days, vowing not to move until he had attained enlightenment. After great personal struggle he achieved enlightenment, and began to teach the principles that are now associated with Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in [[Hinduism]] and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

==View of God==

Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that gods exist, but does not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about [[God]] is pointless. Buddhists' priorities are release from suffering and direct experience of the true nature of reality. Many modern strains of Buddhism are [[atheist|atheistic]] in nature. They are atheist religions. They can also be considered to be philosophies of life. Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

==Teachings==

The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought described by the Buddha as follows:
<blockquote>''"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''</blockquote>

Buddhism is a very practical [[philosophy]], which teaches us to focus our attention on personal experience, to determine what is the cause of our discontents ("dukkha") and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing "metta", which is universal, unconditional love, and "karuna", which roughly translates to "compassion", towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the "Four Noble Truths".<ref>[http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/four_noble_truths.htm Four Noble Truths]</ref>

Regardless belief in Buddhist teachings does not exclude belief in other religions. For example there are Buddhist [[Christians]] who follow the religious teachings of [[Christ]] and also incorporate the philosophical teachings of Buddhism.

==See Also==
*[[Nihilism]]
*[[Upanishads]]

==References==

<References/>

[[Category:Buddhism]]

Zoroastrianism

2007-08-26T16:07:40Z

Immaculada: add ref

'''Zoroastrianism''' is a monotheistic religion founded by [[Zoroaster]] (or Zarathustra) in what is now [[Iran]]. It describes life as a struggle between good and evil with the expectation that good will ultimately prevail. The central divine being is called ''Ahura Mazda'' and was associated by Zoroaster to the idea of a creator of all, who had not been created himself. In the belief system, the dead would be resurrected at "the end of time". The sacred text is called [[Zend Avesta]].

==History==
Zoroastrianism was created by [[Zoroaster]] around 1200 B.C. The religion was popular amongst the tribes of [[Persia]], though was popularized when it was made the state religion of the [[Sassanid Empire]]. It quickly declined when the forces of Islam overran Persia and the population became [[Islamic]]. In the 21st century, Zoroastrianism is practiced by around 200,000 people worldwide (in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran).<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/zoroastr.htm Zoroastrianism]</ref>

The religion has had formative influence on the [[Abrahamic_religions|Abrahamic]] and Vedic religions and [[Buddhism]].

==References==
<references/>
Black, Matthew & H. H. Rowley, eds. (1982), Peake's Commentary on the Bible, New York

Boyce, Mary (1979), Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, London: Routledge

Clark, Peter (1998), Zoroastrianism. An Introduction to an Ancient "Faith", Brighton, UK

[[Category:Religion]]

Talk:Trinity

2007-08-24T15:34:06Z

Immaculada: resist not teach

== I changed the title of the article due to long term interest. Search engines searches will be for "trinity" and not "Holy Trinity" ==

I changed the title of the article due to long term interest. Search engines searches will be for "trinity" and not "Holy Trinity" [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:27, 7 June 2007 (EDT)

== also, i deleted a pic because there appeared to be no associated pic ==

also, i deleted a pic because there appeared to be no associated pic. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:48, 7 June 2007 (EDT)

== source for koran view on trinity ==
The source should be given: it is koran 5:73
"They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity, for there is no god except One God." [[User:Immaculada|Immaculada]] 11:27, 24 August 2007 (EDT)

Also, the koran just resists the idea that ''Christians'' take a trinity including the Holy Mother. koran 5:116 : "And behold! God will say: 'O Jesus, the son of Mary, didst thou say unto men, 'Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of God,?'". Muslims may have targeted Christians who did not accept the Nicene Creed, which is our true Faith. Eg. Apocryphon of John 5:5 : "I am the Father, I am the Mother, I am the Son." [[User:Immaculada|Immaculada]]

Talk:Trinity

2007-08-24T15:27:10Z

Immaculada: source koran view

Karl Marx

2007-08-22T23:23:03Z

Immaculada: typo

[[Image:KarlMarx.jpg|right|frame]]
'''Karl Marx''' (1818-1883) was a [[Germany|German]] economist who sought to set [[socialism]] and [[communism]] on, what he saw as, a scientific basis. Marx was born in Prussia, educated in Germany, and a writer in London.

Marx saw "primitive" socialist thought as fundamentally a moral movement with no base in a practical science. Marx's solution was to ground an analysis of society on his principle of dialectical materialism.

Dialectic was a principle created by German philosopher [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] which, although ferociously complex in his works, is based on the fairly straightforward conception of action and reaction. A situation arises that is less than perfect ("thesis") which provokes a reaction ("antithesis"), eventually a settlement is reached ("synthesis") which, is still far from perfect and provokes its own antithesis. Hegel saw the driving force of changes being the "Geist", variously translated as "spirit" or "mind". Marx took the dialectic and replaced Geist with materialism, at root the metabolism of man. To put it bluntly: you've got to eat!. The difference between the ideal spirit and reality translates into Marx' view that man had become alienated from his true nature. Man had been created different from animals: he is creative, this is essential to his nature. However, in modern days, man is just automatically producing: he works to earn his wage, but has no tie to the product of his labour at all. This is the alienation from his true nature.

The necessity for material sustenance gives rise to an imperfect means of production, which changes as the internal contradictions of thesis and antithesis work themselves out. A key feature of Marx's sociology was that the competition for resources splits society into mutually antagonistic classes ("The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.") whilst the operation of the dialectic serves to continually reduce the numbers of classes until, in the industrial age, society was almost wholly split between "bourgeoisie" and "proletariat". Captialism, according to Marx, is just one system in a long series of economic systems in the world. He held that capitalist society had strong internal inherent tensions. In the development of capitalism, capital (money) would be increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few people. The difference in income between the poorest and richest would always increase. Through economic crises, the poor laborers would start to realize that the system would always be disadvantageous to them.

"''Das Kapital''" ("''Capital''") seeks to demonstrate that the bourgeoisie make profits by exploitation of the proletariat. The exploitation arises where the value of the goods produced by workers is much more than the wages paid, and this "[[surplus value]]" is literally stolen from workers by owners. Marx sought to show that the competition amongst the bourgeoisie forced them to exploit their workers as much as possible. If an individual bourgeois refused to continue the exploitation he would soon be forced into bankruptcy or be taken over by someone who would. The result is a relentless increase in the misery of the proletariat who, eventually, would rebel and replace the existing capitalist system with a socialist/communist system. However, in his major works, Marx himself could not tell if this would make an end to the capitalist system: he knew there are too many factors in history to make a prediction possible. He did not have a clear idea about what the next stage after capitalism would be either. The increasing concentration, he thought, would facilitate a communist system. In that system, however, man also would have to eliminate his alienation. One possibility, which Marx put forward, was complete mechanisation of production, so that any man could do any job<ref>Marx, K. Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy, Berlin</ref>.
In the "''Communist Manifesto''," Marx went into greater detail about how this revolution would unfold. .As well as proposing an economic system Marx also had modern views on education, he advocated education for all including women and the lower classes who at the time were without any education.

Mikhail Bakunin observed how rather than discussion of issues, the tried and tested method of leftism and Marxism was spread through the art of character assassination, <ref>Guy A. Aldred, ''Bakunin'', Strickland Press, Glasgow, (1940). </ref> close associates of Marx were adept in the art of
{{Cquote|cowardly, odious and perfidious insinuations. They seldom make open accusation, but they insinuate, saying they "have heard - it is said - it may not be true, but', and then they hurl the most abominable calumnies in your face.}}

===Views on Religion===
Marx' view on religion is mostly based on [[Ludwig Feuerbach's]] ideas<ref>Feuerbach, L. ''The Essence of Christianity'', New York, 1957</ref>. Marx is considered very controversial in religious circles for his statement, "Religion...is the opium of the masses." This was written in his 1843 work "A Contribution to the [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/intro.htm Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right]" and expresses Marx's belief that religion offers a false palliative to assuage the suffering of "the oppressed", which in his view essentially blames faith in God as the hindrance to carrying out the Marxist program.

Karl Marx is often labeled an [[anti-semite]] or a self-hating Jew for his statements such as, "Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist", "The god of the Jews has become secularized and has become the god of the world. The bill of exchange is the real god of the Jew. His god is only an illusory bill of exchange", and "What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money".

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Karl}}
[[Category:Political people]]
[[Category:Communists]]

Karl Marx

2007-08-22T23:15:55Z

Immaculada: simpler words

[[Image:KarlMarx.jpg|right|frame]]
'''Karl Marx''' (1818-1883) was a [[Germany|German]] economist who sought to set [[socialism]] and [[communism]] on, what he saw as, a scientific basis. Marx was born in Prussia, educated in Germany, and a writer in London.

Marx saw "primitive" socialist thought as fundamentally a moral movement with no base in a practical science. Marx's solution was to ground an analysis of society on his principle of dialectical materialism.

Dialectic was a principle created by German philosopher [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] which, although ferociously complex in his works, is based on the fairly straightforward conception of action and reaction. A situation arises that is less than perfect ("thesis") which provokes a reaction ("antithesis"), eventually a settlement is reached ("synthesis") which, is still far from perfect and provokes its own antithesis. Hegel saw the driving force of changes being the "Geist", variously translated as "spirit" or "mind". Marx took the dialectic and replaced Geist with materialism, at root the metabolism of man. To put it bluntly: you've got to eat!. The difference between the ideal spirit and reality translates into Marx' view that man had become alienated from his true nature. Man had been created different from animals: he is creative, this is essential to his nature. However, in modern days, man is just automatically producing: he works to earn his wage, but has no tie to the product of his labour at all. This is the alienation from his true nature.

The necessity for material sustenance gives rise to an imperfect means of production, which changes as the internal contradictions of thesis and antithesis work themselves out. A key feature of Marx's sociology was that the competition for resources splits society into mutually antagonistic classes ("The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.") whilst the operation of the dialectic serves to continually reduce the numbers of classes until, in the industrial age, society was almost wholly split between "bourgeoisie" and "proletariat". Captialism, according to Marx, is just one system in a long series of economic systems in the world. He held that capitalist society had strong internal inherent tensions. In the development of capitalism, capital (money) would be increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few people. The difference in income between the poorest and richest would always increase. Through economic crisis, the poor laborers would start to realize that the system would always be disadvantageous to them.

"''Das Kapital''" ("''Capital''") seeks to demonstrate that the bourgeoisie make profits by exploitation of the proletariat. The exploitation arises where the value of the goods produced by workers is much more than the wages paid, and this "[[surplus value]]" is literally stolen from workers by owners. Marx sought to show that the competition amongst the bourgeoisie forced them to exploit their workers as much as possible. If an individual bourgeois refused to continue the exploitation he would soon be forced into bankruptcy or be taken over by someone who would. The result is a relentless increase in the misery of the proletariat who, eventually, would rebel and replace the existing capitalist system with a socialist/communist system. However, in his major works, Marx himself could not tell if this would make an end to the capitalist system: he knew there are too many factors in history to make a prediction possible. He did not have a clear idea about what the next stage after capitalism would be either. The increasing concentration, he thought, would facilitate a communist system. In that system, however, man also would have to eliminate his alienation. One possibility, which Marx put forward, was complete mechanisation of production, so that any man could do any job<ref>Marx, K. Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy, Berlin</ref>.
In the "''Communist Manifesto''," Marx went into greater detail about how this revolution would unfold. .As well as proposing an economic system Marx also had modern views on education, he advocated education for all including women and the lower classes who at the time were without any education.

Mikhail Bakunin observed how rather than discussion of issues, the tried and tested method of leftism and Marxism was spread through the art of character assassination, <ref>Guy A. Aldred, ''Bakunin'', Strickland Press, Glasgow, (1940). </ref> close associates of Marx were adept in the art of
{{Cquote|cowardly, odious and perfidious insinuations. They seldom make open accusation, but they insinuate, saying they "have heard - it is said - it may not be true, but', and then they hurl the most abominable calumnies in your face.}}

===Views on Religion===
Marx is considered very controversial in religious circles for his statement, "Religion...is the opium of the masses." This was written in his 1843 work "A Contribution to the [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/intro.htm Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right]" and expresses Marx's belief that religion offers a false palliative to assuage the suffering of "the oppressed", which in his view essentially blames faith in God as the hindrance to carrying out the Marxist program.

Karl Marx is often labeled an [[anti-semite]] or a self-hating Jew for his statements such as, "Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist", "The god of the Jews has become secularized and has become the god of the world. The bill of exchange is the real god of the Jew. His god is only an illusory bill of exchange", and "What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money".

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Karl}}
[[Category:Political people]]
[[Category:Communists]]

Dinosaur

2007-08-22T22:57:59Z

Immaculada: /* Dinosaurs-like creatures in history and modern sightings */ add ex.

[[Image:Fdt566e4.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Triceratops skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History.]]
'''Dinosaurs''' were large, reptilian creatures which are now generally believed to be extinct. The word '''dinosaur''' was coined in 1841 by Richard Owen<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i3/dinosaurs.asp Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref>, from the [[Greek]] words δεινός and σαύρα, meaning "terrible lizard."

==Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology==

In the United States during the 1900s, the public imagination was caught by the discoveries of [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] (1857-1935) and the great competitive dinosaur hunters, [[Edward Drinker Cope]] (1847-1897) and [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] (1831-1899). Exploring in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, they found numerous fossil dinosaurs. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them.

Osborn was a proponent of ''orthogenesis,'' as were many paleontologists up through the middle of the twentieth century. These paleontologists interpreted the fossil record as showing sustained, continuing, unidirectional trends in evolution, which they felt required some kind of driving principle in addition to natural selection. As the author of an encyclopedia article on variation and selection put it in 1911,
:Selection cannot create the materials on which it is supposed to operate... Both sides concur in the position assumed by Darwin, that the word "chance" in such a phrase as "chance variation" does not mean that the occurrences are independent of natural causation and so far undetermined, but covers in the first place our ignorance of the exact causation.... No doubt a large amount of variation is truly indefinite, so that many meaningless or useless variations arise... But there are several directions in which the field of variation appears to be not only limited but defined in a certain direction.... When beetles, or medusae, or cats vary, the range of possible variation is limited and determined by the beetle, medusa or cat constitution, and any possible further differentiation or specialization must be in a sense at least orthogenetic - that is to say, a continuation of the line along which the ancestors of the individual in question have been forced. Darwin himself showed that different species in a genus, or varieties in a species, tended to show parallel variations.<ref>Mitchell, Peter Chalmers (1911), ''Variation and Selection,'' ''Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition,'' volume 27 (TON-VES), p. 906</ref>

[[Roy Chapman Andrews]] (1884–1960), said to be the prototype for the fictional Indiana Jones, is famous for his discovery of fossil dinosaur eggs in Outer Mongolia.

In the 1970, Robert Bakker catalyzed a new era of dinosaur paleontology with evidence that dinosaurs were fully warm-blooded ([[endotherms]]) and fast-moving.<ref>Benton, Michael J. (2000), ''Vertebrate Paleontology'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0632056142&id=PQuKO7xqjNQC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22robert+bakker%22&sig=imoHNyurTTCpztNV0Pp2EU7Fj6c p. 217]</ref>

==Dinosaur Species==
Dinosaurs were immensely varied, and included both herbivores and carnivores. Although many have been found in the fossil record, paleontologists expect that they have barely scratched the surface of the vast superorder that the dinosaurs encompassed.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060905-dinosaurs_2.html Vast Majority of Dinosaurs Still to Be Found, Scientists Say], ''National Geographic''</ref>

== Different Perspectives ==

Ever since the discovery of dinosaur fossils, there has been debate about whether and how dinosaurs fit into the history of life on Earth.

Christians are often depicted as believing that God planted the fossils to test their faith, and it's true that some Christians believe that dinosaurs never existed.
Few creationists believe this.
Most people accept that dinosaurs existed.
Young-Earth creationists, however, reject the [[uniformitarian]] time-scale, and therefore believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed.
Creationists also reject the now-popular idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds.

===Creationary Perspective===

[[Creationism|Young Earth Creationists]] believe, based primarily on Biblical [[sources]], that dinosaurs were created on day 6 of the [[Creation Week|creation week]]<ref>''Genesis'' 1:25</ref> approximately 6,000 years ago, along with other land animals, and therefore co-existed with humans.
As such, they reject the [[Theory of Evolution]] and the beliefs of evolutionary scientists about the age of the earth.

They believe that dinosaurs lived in harmony with other animals, (probably including in the [[Garden of Eden]]) eating only plants<ref>''Genesis'' 1:29-30</ref>; that pairs of each dinosaur [[kind]] were taken onto [[Noah's Ark]] during the [[Great Flood]] and were preserved from drowning<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3967/ Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>; that many of the fossilized dinosaur bones originated during the mass killing of the Flood<ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/219/ Dinosaur bones—just how old are they really?], ''Creation'', vol. 21 No. 1 p. 54</ref>; and that possibly some descendants of those dinosaurs taken aboard the Ark are still around today.<ref Name="Today">Robert Doolan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/833/ Are dinosaurs alive today?], ''Creation'', vol. 15 No. 4 p. 12.</ref>

They use [[archaeological]], [[fossil]], and documentary evidence to argue that dinosaurs co-existed with mankind until at least relatively recent times.

Because the term only came into use in the 19th century, the [[Bible]] does not use the word "dinosaur." However, they are alleged to be mentioned in numerous places throughout the biblical account. For example, the '''behemoth''' in [[Job]] and the '''leviathan''' in [[Isaiah]] are sometimes said to be references to dinosaurs,<ref>Allan K. Steel, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1799 Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?], ''Journal of Creation'' vol. 15 No. 2 p. 42.</ref> <ref>[http://www.answersincreation.org/job4041a.htm], ''Answers in Creation''</ref>, although others have claimed that Behemoth and Leviathan are references to a hippopotamus or elephant and a crocodile respectively. Young-Earth creationists point out that the descriptions don't fit these creatures, including that hippopotamuses and elephants don't have a "tail like a cedar".

==== Extinction ====

Creationists reject the "Great Impact Theory", pointing out multiple problems with this theory. <ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2426 Did a meteor wipe out the dinosaurs?].</ref>

Creationists assert that evolutionists are frequently coming out with a "New Theory of Dinosaur Extinction" and that their theories are laden with false assumptions. <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/1115dinosaur.asp Dinosaur demise theory, version #451], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> It is worth noting, however, that more and more of these theories are being harmonized with one another.<ref>[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21082 More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago], ''SpaceRef.com''</ref>

====Dinosaurs-like creatures in history and modern sightings====

Creationists cite a number of reasons to believe that dinosaurs have existed until relatively recent times, and perhaps still survive.

* There have been a number of claimed sightings of dinosaur-like creatures.
** A thousand people reported seeing a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang according to the Chinese publication, China Today.<ref name="Today" />
** Among those who believe in the existence of the [[Loch Ness Monster]], one popular theory is that it is a living [[plesiosaur]].<ref>"New Quest Is Haunted By 'Nessie'", ''The New York Times,'' July 14, 1992, p. C4: "Believers say it resembles a plesiosaur and was trapped in Loch Ness during the Ice Age 12,000 years ago. The plesiosaurs were marine reptiles who are thought to have lived 65 million to 200 million years ago."</ref>
** In the MeKong River in Indochina, there have been sightings of prehistoric fish or reptiles. They are mistaken for Nagas, or monsters, by the superstitious local people<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501021125-391567,00.html Naga's Fire], Time Magazine , 2002</ref> <ref>[http://img263.imageshack.us/my.php?image=prehistfishsr7.jpg US Soldiers with prehistoric fish]</ref>.
** Locals in the Congo have reported a creature they name ''Mokele-member''<ref name="Today" /><ref>[http://www.mokelembembe.com/ Mokele-mbembe The Living Dinosaur!]</ref>, and from its description it appears to be a small plant-eating dinosaur. The reports have been taken seriously enough that a biologist from [[Chicago University]] has made several expeditions to find the creature. Another biologist has reported seeing the creature.<ref name="Today" />

* There are drawings of creatures resembling dinosaurs.
** An expedition which included Charles W. Gilmore, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology with the United States National Museum, examined an ancient pictograph which he claimed portrays dinosaurs and man coexisting.<ref>[http://www.creationism.org/swift/DohenyExpedition/Doheny01Main.htm Doheny Scientific Expedition, Hava Supai Canyon, Arizona], ''Creationism.org''</ref><ref>[http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_hava_supai_dinosaur_carving The Hava Supai Dinosaur Carving], ''ChristianCourier.com''</ref>.
** The Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, a second century piece of art, is said to appear to be a piece of artwork that shows a dinosaur and man coexisting. <ref>[http://www.s8int.com/dinolit2.html Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History-- Page 2], ''s8int.com''</ref>
** Engravings in the floor of [[Carlisle Cathedral]] appear to be of dinosaurs. They are on the tomb of bishop Richard Bell, who died in 1496.<ref>See picture on page 241 of Batten, Don, et. al., 2007, ''The Creation Answers Book''.</ref>

* Creatures matching dinosaurs and similar creatures have been described by various people groups.
** The description of the "[[Thunder bird]]" of [[American Indian]]s matches the descriptions of [[pterosaur]]s.<ref name="Today" />

* Descriptions of [[dragon]]s are widespread and match descriptions of dinosaurs, suggesting that dragons were real creatures and were actually dinosaurs.<ref>Talk.Origins argues ([http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH712.html Claim CH712], ''TalkOrigins.org'') that the inclusion of dinosaurs within many cultures is based on the existence of fossils. Ancient people, unaware that the ancient fossils uncovered by erosion were of extinct animals, attributed the bones to living, magical creatures. This would explain the importance of dragons in Chinese culture - there are a large number of dinosaur (as well as non-dinosaur) fossils to be found in China. CreationWiki's response ([http://creationwiki.org/Dragons_were_dinosaurs Dragons were dinosaurs] (rebuttal of Talk.Origins' claim CH712)) is that the fossils reminded people of the legends, not that the fossils inspired the legends.</ref>
** The World Book Encyclopedia states that: "The [[dragon]]s of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth." <ref>Quoted in [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ25.html What about the Dinosaurs?], ''CreationScience.com''</ref>. Dragons exist in the folklore of many European and Asian cultures.<ref name="WB2000">''Dragon'' entry in World Book Millennium 2000 CD ROM</ref> World Book Encyclopedia says, "In Europe, dragons are traditionally portrayed as ferocious beasts that represent the evils fought by human beings. But in Asia, especially in China and Japan, the animals are generally considered friendly creatures that ensure good luck and wealth."<ref Name="WB2000" />
** Dragons appear in the flag of [[Wales]], in traditional [[China|Chinese]] [[New Years' Day]] celebrations, and in the Chinese [[calendar]]. Every other creature on the calendar is a real creature.

* That dinosaurs are not known from the fossil record above the [[Jurassic]] strata is not reason to believe that they have not survived until more recent times.
** Living specimens of orders of animals that were believed to have been extinct for millions of years have been found before, such as the Diatomyidae Squirrel <ref>[[Diatomyidae]] Squirrel [http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Thought-It-Went-Extinct-11-Million-Years-Ago-19557.shtml]</ref>, the [[Wollemi Pine]] <ref>Wollemi Pine ''Biotechnology Australia'' [http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/enviro/wollemi.cfm]</ref> and the [[Coelacanth]] <ref>Sulawesi Coelacanth. ''University Of California, Berkeley''[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/coelacanth/coelacanths.html]</ref> <ref>More on the Coelacanth ''marinebio.org''[http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54]</ref>.

* The recent dinosaur tissue find is a strong rebuttal of the claim that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. <ref>Carl Wieland, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3042 Still soft and stretchy], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>



==== Dinosaurs and birds ====

Creationists contend that the idea that birds are descendants of dinosaurs is not demonstrated by the evidence <ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/ Bird evolution?], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref> <ref>Andy McIntosh, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/540/ 100 years of airplanes—but these weren’t the first flying machines!], ''Creation'' vol. 26 No. 1 p. 44</ref>, and that the dinosaur-bird connection is even disputed by some evolutionists.

In his article, "Fifteen ways to refute materialistic bigotry", Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]] wrote regarding dinosaurs being descendants of birds:
<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
The same logic applies to the dinosaur-[[bird]] debate. It is perfectly in order for creationists to cite [[Alan Feduccia|Feduccia]]’s devastating criticism against the idea that birds evolved ‘ground up’ from running dinosaurs (the cursorial theory). But the dino-to-bird advocates counter with equally powerful arguments against Feduccia’s ‘trees-down’ (arboreal) theory. The evidence indicates that the critics are ''both'' right — birds did not evolve either from running dinos or from tree-living mini-crocodiles. In fact, birds did not evolve from non-birds at all!
<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry], ''Creation Ministries International''</ref>
</blockquote>

Creationists also cite the evolutionist [[Ernst Mayr]] who in 1942 stated the following:

“It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random mutations." <ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes10.html In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood], ''Center for Scientific Creation''</ref>

The March 2003 issue of ''Scientific American'' is also cited by creationists:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
"Of all the body coverings nature has designed, feathers are the most various and the most mysterious...The origin of feathers is a specific instance of the much more general question of the origin of evolutionary novelties--structures that have no clear antecedents in ancestral animals and no clear related structures (homologues) in contemporary relatives. Although evolutionary theory provides a robust explanation for the appearance of minor variations in the size and shape of creatures and their component parts, it does not yet give as much guidance for understanding the emergence of entirely new structures, including digits, limbs, eyes and feathers...." <ref>Michael Matthews, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/0313sciam.asp Scientific American admits creationists hit a sore spot], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref> <ref>[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CD7F6-B16F-1E41-89E0809EC588EEDF Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird?], ''Scientific American''</ref>
</blockquote>

Creationists also assert that the comparative anatomy analysis done by evolutionists comparing bird bones and dinosaur bones is flawed. <ref>Dr. David N. Menton, [http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0328discovery.asp "Ostrich-osaurus" Discovery?], ''Answers in Genesis''</ref>

----

===Evolutionary Perspective===

The view of [[Theory of evolution|evolutionists]] and others who accept the uniformitarian timescale is that dinosaurs existed on earth from 230 million years ago to 65 million years ago. In this view, the entire population of dinosaurs were wiped out by a mass extinction event (usually thought to be an asteroid) about 65 million years ago.
Of course this precludes humans and dinosaurs co-existing.

====Extinction====

According to most scientists, close to 65 million years ago, at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period, and the beginning of what is called the [[Tertiary]] period, an event occurred which has come to be known as the [[K-T Event]]. This event would have obliterated most life on Earth, plunging the world into something that would now be likened to global nuclear winter, through which few extant species could survive. Although these scientists dispute the nature of the K-T Event (selecting among any number of catastrophes that could have caused the significant global cooling that resulted), most find that the claimed K-T Event was caused by the collision of a massive asteroid with the Earth, the dust and debris from which would have shrouded the sky for thousands of years, cooling Earth considerably.<ref>Kevin O Pope, "Meteorite impact and the mass extinction of species at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, available at [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/19/11028]</ref> According to this view, the dinosaurs did not survive this cataclysm.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0823_020823_asteroid.html Prehistoric Asteroid "Killed Everything"], ''National Geographic''</ref> The dust from this impact is supposedly still visible as a line of metal of extraterrestrial origin and is often visible in sediment worldwide, occurring as a result of the vaporization and then fall of dust from the meteorite's impact, and its compression within the subsequent geological record.<ref>''Ibid''</ref> The crater is also visible.<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0307_030307_impactcrater.html "Dinosaur-Killer" Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time], ''National Geographic''</ref>

====An Explosion of new species ====

The mass extinction of the dinosaurs removed a major food competitor, and predator, of smaller animals. As a result of a new "vacancy" in the food chain, following the [[K-T Event]], vast speciation occurred, as the evolutionary pressure of a new cold age propelled animal species to adapt or die out. According to this view, [[mammals]] were some of the main beneficiaries of this explosion: their fur allowed them to adapt to the cold, and their small size allowed them to conserve energy relative to the huge dinosaurs of the previous age.<ref>Bennet, Shostak, Jakotsky, "Life in the Universe," viewable at [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Universe-Jeffrey-Bennett/dp/0805385770]</ref>

====Dinosaurs and Birds====

As a number of feathered fossils (claimed to be dinosaurs) have been discovered, and evolutionary scientists claim the similarity in the bone structure between birds and dinosaurs show that modern birds are a descendants of dinosaurs. This is often cited as an example of [[macroevolution]].<ref>[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html New Dinosaur Discovered: T. Rex Cousin Had Feathers], ''National Geographic''</ref> Cladists place modern birds within the clade dinosauria, meaning that they consider all bird species today as, technically, dinosaurs.<ref>[http://tolweb.org/Dinosauria/14883/1999.01.01 Tree of Life Web Project.] 1999. Dinosauria. Version 01 January 1999 (temporary). Accessed 30 May 2007.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Dinosaurs]]

Kushite

2007-08-22T15:02:37Z

Immaculada: language

A Kushite is someone descended from Ham, one of the sons of Noah. Kush was the
grandson of [[Noah]]. The word is sometimes associated with the peoples in the [[Horn of Africa]]. [[Kush]], however, is an ancient country in the middle Nile Valley. [[Pharao]] [[Thutmosis]] I is known to have waged war against it around 1525 b.C.<ref>Steindorff, G., K. Seele. When Egypt Ruled the East, Chicago, 1942 </ref>.

The [[prophet]] [[Moses]] was married to a Kushite woman:

Numbers (Am. St.) 12:1 tells us: ''Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married (for he had married an [[Ethiopian]] woman).''

''Ethiopian'' need not be related to the region of modern Ethiopia. The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] (who lived in the 5th century b.C.) used the word for the peoples immediately South of ancient Egypt <ref> Herodotus: ''Histories'', Volume 2, 29 </ref>

== Notes ==

<references/>
[[category:anthropology]]

Capital punishment

2007-08-22T03:25:57Z

Immaculada: /* Biblical View */ ref

'''Capital Punishment''', also known as the death penalty, refers to the custom of executing prisoners who are convicted of certain crimes. Such crimes are known as capital crimes, and tend to be grave crimes against persons (such as [[premeditation|premeditated]] [[murder]] or [[rape]]) or [[treason]].

== In the world today ==
Of the developed main countries, only the [[United States]], [[China]], Iran and [[Japan]] use capital punishment. Several European countries and [[Canada]] have gone so far as to outlaw the practice. In the non-developed world, it is practiced in most Shari'a states (those whose legal systems are based on the [[Muslim]] legal philosophy), as well as many others.<ref>EU: [http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/deathpenalty/EurHRConvProt13Decl.htm Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty in all Circumstances]</ref><ref>Encarta: [http://encarta.msn.com/media_461543496/Capital_Punishment_Worldwide.html Capital Punishment Worldwide]</ref>

According to officially released governmental figures, leftist [[Amnesty International]] estimates that Singapore has the highest execution rate in the world, at 13.65 hangings per 1,000,000 residents. Saudi Arabia has the second-highest rate, at 4.65 per 1,000,000. American [[Human Rights Watch]] does not have any recent figures.

=== In the United States ===
Capital punishment in the United States is handled on a state-by-state basis, and several states' laws do not allow for executions.

[[Pennsylvania]] has hundreds of people on death row, though only three inmates have been executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment laws, and all three "volunteered" by dropping their appeals. In [[Texas]], one man has been on death row for 31 years.<ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-deathrow28jan28,1,1271967.story?coll=la-headlines-nation</ref>
Appeals and stays of execution can create a backlog on death row's in many states.

Though the United States suspended the death penalty in 1973, it was reinstated in 1977. 65% of Americans believe putting someone to death for a crime is acceptable, according to a recent poll. But respondents were close to evenly split on whether they would prefer the death penalty (50%) to mandatory life in prison (46%). The death penalty is most favored by age 30+ males who are Caucasian and [[Republican]].<ref>ABC News/Washington Post poll: [http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/1015a3DeathPenalty.pdf Death Penalty]</ref>

==Deterrent==

Some studies conducted since the start of the new millennium have consistently shown a deterence factor in the United States based on use of the death penalty. It has been calculated that each person executed saves the lives of anywhere from 3 to 18 innocent people.<ref>Studies: Death penalty discourages crime http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,280215,00.html</ref> However - other studies have shown as a whole, "death-penalty states" typically have higher murder rates than states that have outlawed capital punishment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?&did=1705#STATES%20WITH%20THE%20DEATH%20PENALTY%20V.%20STATES%20WITHOUT|format=HTML|work=Death Penalty Information Center|language=English|title=Deterrence|accessdate=2007-08-21}}</ref>

==== Methods in the United States ====

[[Lethal injection]] is the official method of capital punishment in almost all of the 38 states that have the death penalty. A few states allow for other methods in some circumstances. [[Nebraska]] is the only state of these that does not have lethal injection. [[Electrocution]] is the official method of execution there. Several botched electrocutions in [[Florida]] in the 1990s have effectively put an end to the era of the [[electric chair]], which was the most common means of execution in the United States before 1972. In addition to these two methods of execution, lethal gas, hanging, and shooting have all been used at least twice since 1977. Both firing squads were conducted in [[Utah]], most recently in 1996. The three hangings took place in [[Washington]] and [[Delaware]], most recently Billy Bailey's 1996 hanging in Delaware. The [[gas chamber]], which has been abandoned because it has been found to normally lead to slow, gruesome deaths, has been used in [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[Nevada]], [[Mississippi]], and [[North Carolina]] since 1977. Walter LeGrand's 1999 execution in Arizona's gas chamber will almost certainly be the last of this type. The United States has never used the [[guillotine]], which was very popular in [[France]]. The last use of the guillotine in France was in 1977. Thereafter, capital punishment in France was abolished.

===In Canada===
[[Canada]] does not employ capital punishment, and it has not been a possible sentence in Canada since 1998.

Canada long employed capital punishment as a punishment for [[murder]] or [[treason]], typically executing prisoners by [[long drop hanging|long drop]] [[hanging]] in the case of civilians, and by [[firing squad]] in the case of soldiers or other military. (In particular, 25 soldiers were executed for various crimes during [[World War I]].) Canada had several notorious executioners, particularly [[Arthur B. English]], also known as "Arthur Ellis", after whom [[Arthur Ellis Awards|a Canadian literary award]] for mystery writing is named.

While Canada's use of capital punishment was inherited from the legal system of the [[United Kingdom]], opposition to capital punishment began to arise in the late 1950s, and came to a head in 1959, when [[Steven Truscott]], a 14-year-old boy, was convicted of murder, with a recommendation from the [[jury]] for mercy. The judge passed down a sentence of execution by hanging, then the only legal punishment for murder in Canada.

While Truscott's death sentence would later be commuted in 1960, his case galvanized public opinion, and in 1961 Canada reclassified capital murder, defining it as a murder that involved [[premeditation]], murder during the commission of a violent crime, or the murder of a [[police officer]] or [[prison guard]]. This marked the beginning of the decline of capital punishment in Canada, as the last executions would be in [[December]], 1962. The government of Canada routinely [[commutation|commuted]] any death sentence passed thereafter (indeed, the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] made opposition to capital punishment a part of their [[platform (politics)|platform]]).

In 1976, this [[de facto]] state of affairs became law, when the [[Parliament (Canada)|Canadian Parliament]] abolished the use of capital punishment under the [[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]. Executions were still permitted under the [[National Defense Act (Canada)|National Defense Act]] until 1998, when they were similarly abolished.

Currently, Canada's [[Supreme Court of Canada|Supreme Court]] does not allow the [[extradition]] of criminals who may be executed for their crimes.

==Religious views of capital punishment==
===Christianity===
==== Biblical View ====
The [[Old Testament]] of the [[Bible]] has several passages that recommend the death penalty for different offenses.

According to the Old Testament, these are the offenses which merit the [[death penalty]]:

# [[Murder]] ([[Exodus]] 21:12, 21:15)
# Kidnapping to sell into slavery ([[Exodus]] 21:16)
# Cursing Parents ([[Exodus]] 21:17)
# Bestiality ([[Leviticus]] 20:15)
# Desecrating the [[Sabbath]] ([[Exodus]] 31:15)
# [[Adultery]] ([[Leviticus]] 20:10, [[Leviticus]] 19:20)
# Sacrificing children to Molech ([[Leviticus]] 20:2)
# [[Blasphemy]] ([[Leviticus]] 24:16)
# Incest ([[Leviticus]] 20:11, but see [[Genesis]] 19:33, 19:35, 4:17)
# [[Homosexual]] intercourse ([[Leviticus]] 18:22, 20:13)
# [[Witchcraft]] ([[Exodus]] 22:18, [[Leviticus]] 20:27)
# False [[Prophecy]] ([[Deuteronomy]] 13:5)
# Worshiping a false god ([[Deuteronomy]] 13:6-10)
# Sex with a woman betrothed to another ([[Deuteronomy]] 22:25)
# False witness in a capital crime ([[Deuteronomy]] 19:16-20)
# Daughter of a priest becoming a prostitute ([[Leviticus]] 21:9)
# Juvenile delinquency ([[Deuteronomy]] 21:18-21)
# Sacrificing to false gods ([[Exodus]] 22:20)
# Un[[chastity]] ([[Deuteronomy]] 22:21-24)

Few people support capital punishment for non-murder offenses, and a number of Christians oppose the death penalty in all cases. Apologist [[JP Holding]] argues that the Bible including the [[New Testament]] nowhere repudiates the use of capital punishment, but that it does not necessarily mandate its use, either. <ref>http://www.tektonics.org/af/cappun.html</ref>

==== Catechism of the Catholic Church====

While not specifically saying it should be banned in all cases, the Catholic Church favors life over capital punishment as it gives the chance for redemption.

The State's effort to contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requirement of watching over the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime. the primary scope of the penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of persons, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the offender.

The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.
"If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
"Today, in fact, given the means at the State's disposal to effectively repress crime by rendering inoffensive the one who has committed it, without depriving him definitively of the possibility of redeeming himself, cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender 'today ... are very rare, if not practically non-existent.'<ref>[John Paul II, Evangelium vitae 56.]http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Culture of life]]
*[[Guillotine]]
*[[Hanging]]
*[[Lethal injection]]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55990 Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy], By Michael Ireland, ''WorldNetDaily,com'', June 2, 2007.

==References==
<references/>
[[category:politics]]
[[category:law]]

Capital punishment

2007-08-22T03:16:48Z

Immaculada: /* In the world today */

'''Capital Punishment''', also known as the death penalty, refers to the custom of executing prisoners who are convicted of certain crimes. Such crimes are known as capital crimes, and tend to be grave crimes against persons (such as [[premeditation|premeditated]] [[murder]] or [[rape]]) or [[treason]].

== In the world today ==
Of the developed main countries, only the [[United States]], [[China]], Iran and [[Japan]] use capital punishment. Several European countries and [[Canada]] have gone so far as to outlaw the practice. In the non-developed world, it is practiced in most Shari'a states (those whose legal systems are based on the [[Muslim]] legal philosophy), as well as many others.<ref>EU: [http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/deathpenalty/EurHRConvProt13Decl.htm Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty in all Circumstances]</ref><ref>Encarta: [http://encarta.msn.com/media_461543496/Capital_Punishment_Worldwide.html Capital Punishment Worldwide]</ref>

According to officially released governmental figures, leftist [[Amnesty International]] estimates that Singapore has the highest execution rate in the world, at 13.65 hangings per 1,000,000 residents. Saudi Arabia has the second-highest rate, at 4.65 per 1,000,000. American [[Human Rights Watch]] does not have any recent figures.

=== In the United States ===
Capital punishment in the United States is handled on a state-by-state basis, and several states' laws do not allow for executions.

[[Pennsylvania]] has hundreds of people on death row, though only three inmates have been executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment laws. In [[Texas]] One man has been on death row for 31 years.<ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-deathrow28jan28,1,1271967.story?coll=la-headlines-nation</ref>
Appeals and stays of execution can create a backlog on death row's in many states.

Though the United States suspended the death penalty in 1973, it was reinstated in 1977. 65% of Americans believe putting someone to death for a crime is acceptable, according to a recent poll. But respondents were close to evenly split on whether they would prefer the death penalty (50%) to mandatory life in prison (46%). The death penalty is most favored by age 30+ males who are Caucasian and [[Republican]].<ref>ABC News/Washington Post poll: [http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/1015a3DeathPenalty.pdf Death Penalty]</ref>

==Deterrent==

Some studies conducted since the start of the new millennium have consistently shown a deterence factor in the United States based on use of the death penalty. It has been calculated that each person executed saves the lives of anywhere from 3 to 18 innocent people.<ref>Studies: Death penalty discourages crime http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,280215,00.html</ref> However - other studies have shown as a whole, "death-penalty states" typically have higher murder rates than states that have outlawed capital punishment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?&did=1705#STATES%20WITH%20THE%20DEATH%20PENALTY%20V.%20STATES%20WITHOUT|format=HTML|work=Death Penalty Information Center|language=English|title=Deterrence|accessdate=2007-08-21}}</ref>

==== Methods in the United States ====

[[Lethal injection]] is the official method of capital punishment in almost all of the 38 states that have the death penalty. A few states allow for other methods in some circumstances. [[Nebraska]] is the only state of these that does not have lethal injection. [[Electrocution]] is the official method of execution there. Several botched electrocutions in [[Florida]] in the 1990s have effectively put an end to the era of the [[electric chair]], which was the most common means of execution in the United States before 1972. In addition to these two methods of execution, lethal gas, hanging, and shooting have all been used at least twice since 1977. Both firing squads were conducted in [[Utah]], most recently in 1996. The three hangings took place in [[Washington]] and [[Delaware]], most recently Billy Bailey's 1996 hanging in Delaware. The [[gas chamber]], which has been abandoned because it has been found to normally lead to slow, gruesome deaths, has been used in [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[Nevada]], [[Mississippi]], and [[North Carolina]] since 1977. Walter LeGrand's 1999 execution in Arizona's gas chamber will almost certainly be the last of this type. The United States has never used the [[guillotine]], which was very popular in [[France]]. The last use of the guillotine in France was in 1977. Thereafter, capital punishment in France was abolished.

===In Canada===
[[Canada]] does not employ capital punishment, and it has not been a possible sentence in Canada since 1998.

Canada long employed capital punishment as a punishment for [[murder]] or [[treason]], typically executing prisoners by [[long drop hanging|long drop]] [[hanging]] in the case of civilians, and by [[firing squad]] in the case of soldiers or other military. (In particular, 25 soldiers were executed for various crimes during [[World War I]].) Canada had several notorious executioners, particularly [[Arthur B. English]], also known as "Arthur Ellis", after whom [[Arthur Ellis Awards|a Canadian literary award]] for mystery writing is named.

While Canada's use of capital punishment was inherited from the legal system of the [[United Kingdom]], opposition to capital punishment began to arise in the late 1950s, and came to a head in 1959, when [[Steven Truscott]], a 14-year-old boy, was convicted of murder, with a recommendation from the [[jury]] for mercy. The judge passed down a sentence of execution by hanging, then the only legal punishment for murder in Canada.

While Truscott's death sentence would later be commuted in 1960, his case galvanized public opinion, and in 1961 Canada reclassified capital murder, defining it as a murder that involved [[premeditation]], murder during the commission of a violent crime, or the murder of a [[police officer]] or [[prison guard]]. This marked the beginning of the decline of capital punishment in Canada, as the last executions would be in [[December]], 1962. The government of Canada routinely [[commutation|commuted]] any death sentence passed thereafter (indeed, the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] made opposition to capital punishment a part of their [[platform (politics)|platform]]).

In 1976, this [[de facto]] state of affairs became law, when the [[Parliament (Canada)|Canadian Parliament]] abolished the use of capital punishment under the [[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]. Executions were still permitted under the [[National Defense Act (Canada)|National Defense Act]] until 1998, when they were similarly abolished.

Currently, Canada's [[Supreme Court of Canada|Supreme Court]] does not allow the [[extradition]] of criminals who may be executed for their crimes.

==Religious views of capital punishment==
===Christianity===
==== Biblical View ====
The [[Old Testament]] of the [[Bible]] has several passages that recommend the death penalty for different offenses.

According to the Old Testament, these are the offenses which merit the [[death penalty]]:

# [[Murder]] ([[Exodus]] 21:12, 21:15)
# Kidnapping to sell into slavery ([[Exodus]] 21:16)
# Cursing Parents ([[Exodus]] 21:17)
# Bestiality ([[Leviticus]] 20:15)
# Desecrating the [[Sabbath]] ([[Exodus]] 31:15)
# [[Adultery]] ([[Leviticus]] 20:10, [[Leviticus]] 19:20)
# Sacrificing children to Molech ([[Leviticus]] 20:2)
# [[Blasphemy]] ([[Leviticus]] 24:16)
# Incest ([[Leviticus]] 20:11)
# [[Homosexual]] intercourse ([[Leviticus]] 18:22, 20:13)
# [[Witchcraft]] ([[Exodus]] 22:18, [[Leviticus]] 20:27)
# False [[Prophecy]] ([[Deuteronomy]] 13:5)
# Worshiping a false god ([[Deuteronomy]] 13:6-10)
# Sex with a woman betrothed to another ([[Deuteronomy]] 22:25)
# False witness in a capital crime ([[Deuteronomy]] 19:16-20)
# Daughter of a priest becoming a prostitute ([[Leviticus]] 21:9)
# Juvenile delinquency ([[Deuteronomy]] 21:18-21)
# Sacrificing to false gods ([[Exodus]] 22:20)
# Un[[chastity]] ([[Deuteronomy]] 22:21-24)

Few people support capital punishment for non-murder offenses, and a number of Christians oppose the death penalty in all cases. Apologist [[JP Holding]] argues that the Bible including the [[New Testament]] nowhere repudiates the use of capital punishment, but that it does not necessarily mandate its use, either. <ref>http://www.tektonics.org/af/cappun.html</ref>

==== Catechism of the Catholic Church====

While not specifically saying it should be banned in all cases, the Catholic Church favors life over capital punishment as it gives the chance for redemption.

The State's effort to contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requirement of watching over the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime. the primary scope of the penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of persons, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the offender.

The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.
"If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
"Today, in fact, given the means at the State's disposal to effectively repress crime by rendering inoffensive the one who has committed it, without depriving him definitively of the possibility of redeeming himself, cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender 'today ... are very rare, if not practically non-existent.'<ref>[John Paul II, Evangelium vitae 56.]http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Culture of life]]
*[[Guillotine]]
*[[Hanging]]
*[[Lethal injection]]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55990 Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy], By Michael Ireland, ''WorldNetDaily,com'', June 2, 2007.

==References==
<references/>
[[category:politics]]
[[category:law]]

Kush

2007-08-22T02:57:04Z

Immaculada:

'''Kush''' is an ancient African country, located South of Egypt.

== History ==

Not much is known about the origins of Kush. Kush was part of a larger region called ''Nubia''. From 2000 b.C. on, there are numerous mentions of the country in Egyptian texts. Its northern frontier with Egypt was at [[Elephantine]]. The King of the [[Hyksos]], who ruled Egypt from around 1650 to 1550 b.C., asked the country's military support around 1600 b.C.. Because of its influence, later Egyptian Pharaos waged war against it, until it was defeated. From then on, more and more [[Kushite|Kushites]] got involved in Egyptian political life. Kushite princes even took power in Egypt, to found its 25th ''Ethiopian'' Dynasty. The first two of their Pharaos who are known by name are: [[Alara]] and [[Kashta]].
The 25th Dynasty ended with the invasion by the [[Assyria|Assyrians]]. The Kushites then relocated their capital to the famous city of Meroe.

The evangelization of Meroe is the story told in the Acts in the New Testament, in Chapter 8:26-39 .
The title of the female rulers of Meroe was ''Candace''. In the Acts we can read:

8:26: ''And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet '' ... 8:35: ''Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.''

== References ==
* Davidson, B. Africa, History of A Continent, London, UK, 1966
* Leclant, J. The empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe, UNESCO General History of Africa
* Shinnie, P. L. Meroe, a civilization of the Sudan, London, UK, 1967

[[Category:History]]
[[Category:African Kingdoms]]

Kush

2007-08-22T02:42:30Z

Immaculada: /* History */

'''Kush''' is an ancient African country, located South of Egypt.

== History ==

Not much is known about the origins of Kush. Kush was part of a larger region called ''Nubia''. From 2000 b.C. on, there are numerous mentions of the country in Egyptian texts. Its northern frontier with Egypt was at [[Elephantine]]. The King of the [[Hyksos]], who ruled Egypt from around 1650 to 1550 b.C., asked the country's military support around 1600 b.C.. Because of its influence, later Egyptian Pharaos waged war against it, until it was defeated. From then on, more and more [[Kushite|Kushites]] got involved in Egyptian political life. Kushite princes even took power in Egypt, to found its 25th ''Ethiopian'' Dynasty. Only two of their Pharaos are known by name: [[Alara]] and [[Kashta]].
The 25th Dynasty ended with the invasion by the [[Assyria|Assyrians]]. The Kushites then relocated their capital to the famous city of Meroe.

The evangelization of Meroe is the story told in the Acts in the New Testament, in Chapter 8:26-39 .
The title of the female rulers of Meroe was ''Candace''. In the Acts we can read:

8:26: ''And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet '' ... 8:35: ''Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.''

== References ==
* Davidson, B. Africa, History of A Continent, London, UK, 1966
* Leclant, J. The empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe, UNESCO General History of Africa
* Shinnie, P. L. Meroe, a civilization of the Sudan, London, UK, 1967

[[Category:History]]
[[Category:African Kingdoms]]

Kush

2007-08-22T02:39:57Z

Immaculada: cat

'''Kush''' is an ancient African country, located South of Egypt.

== History ==

Not much is known about the origins of Kush. Kush was part of a larger region called ''Nubia''. From 2000 b.C. on, there are numerous mentions of the country in Egyptian texts. Its northern frontier with Egypt was at [[Elephantine]]. The King of the [[Hyksos]], who ruled Egypt from around 1650 to 1550 b.C., asked the country's military support around 1600 b.C.. Because of its influence, later Egyptian Pharaos waged war against it, until it was defeated. From then on, more and more Kushites got involved in Egyptian political life. Kushite princes even took power in Egypt, to found its 25th ''Ethiopian'' Dynasty. Only two of their Pharaos are known by name: [[Alara]] and [[Kashta]].
The 25th Dynasty ended with the invasion by the [[Assyria|Assyrians]]. The Kushites then relocated their capital to the famous city of Meroe.

The evangelization of Meroe is the story told in the Acts in the New Testament, in Chapter 8:26-39 .
The title of the female rulers of Meroe was ''Candace''. In the Acts we can read:

8:26: ''And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet '' ... 8:35: ''Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.''

== References ==
* Davidson, B. Africa, History of A Continent, London, UK, 1966
* Leclant, J. The empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe, UNESCO General History of Africa
* Shinnie, P. L. Meroe, a civilization of the Sudan, London, UK, 1967

[[Category:History]]
[[Category:African Kingdoms]]

Kush

2007-08-22T02:35:07Z

Immaculada: rest of quote

'''Kush''' is an ancient African country, located South of Egypt.

== History ==

Not much is known about the origins of Kush. Kush was part of a larger region called ''Nubia''. From 2000 b.C. on, there are numerous mentions of the country in Egyptian texts. Its northern frontier with Egypt was at [[Elephantine]]. The King of the [[Hyksos]], who ruled Egypt from around 1650 to 1550 b.C., asked the country's military support around 1600 b.C.. Because of its influence, later Egyptian Pharaos waged war against it, until it was defeated. From then on, more and more Kushites got involved in Egyptian political life. Kushite princes even took power in Egypt, to found its 25th ''Ethiopian'' Dynasty. Only two of their Pharaos are known by name: [[Alara]] and [[Kashta]].
The 25th Dynasty ended with the invasion by the [[Assyria|Assyrians]]. The Kushites then relocated their capital to the famous city of Meroe.

The evangelization of Meroe is the story told in the Acts in the New Testament, in Chapter 8:26-39 .
The title of the female rulers of Meroe was ''Candace''. In the Acts we can read:

8:26: ''And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet '' ... 8:35: ''Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.''

== References ==
* Davidson, B. Africa, History of A Continent, London, UK, 1966
* Leclant, J. The empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe, UNESCO General History of Africa
* Shinnie, P. L. Meroe, a civilization of the Sudan, London, UK, 1967

Kush

2007-08-22T02:31:26Z

Immaculada: oops

'''Kush''' is an ancient African country, located South of Egypt.

== History ==

Not much is known about the origins of Kush. Kush was part of a larger region called ''Nubia''. From 2000 b.C. on, there are numerous mentions of the country in Egyptian texts. Its northern frontier with Egypt was at [[Elephantine]]. The King of the [[Hyksos]], who ruled Egypt from around 1650 to 1550 b.C., asked the country's military support around 1600 b.C.. Because of its influence, later Egyptian Pharaos waged war against it, until it was defeated. From then on, more and more Kushites got involved in Egyptian political life. Kushite princes even took power in Egypt, to found its 25th ''Ethiopian'' Dynasty. Only two of their Pharaos are known by name: [[Alara]] and [[Kashta]].
The 25th Dynasty ended with the invasion by the [[Assyria|Assyrians]]. The Kushites then relocated their capital to the famous city of Meroe.

The evangelization of Meroe is the story told in the Acts in the New Testament, in Chapter 8:26-39 .
The title of the female rulers of Meroe was ''Candace''. In the Acts we can read:

8:26: ''And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship ''

== References ==
* Davidson, B. Africa, History of A Continent, London, UK, 1966
* Leclant, J. The empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe, UNESCO General History of Africa
* Shinnie, P. L. Meroe, a civilization of the Sudan, London, UK, 1967

Kushite

2007-08-22T02:29:25Z

Immaculada: int. link

A Kushite is someone descended from Ham, one of the sons of Noah. Kush was the
grandson of [[Noah]]. The word is sometimes associated with the peoples in the [[Horn of Africa]]. [[Kush]], however, is an ancient country in the middle Nile Valley. [[Pharao]] [[Thutmosis]] I is known to have waged war against it around 1525 b.C.<ref>Steindorff, G., K. Seele. When Egypt Ruled the East, Chicago, 1942 </ref>.

The [[prophet]] [[Moses]] was married to a Kushite wife:

Numbers (Am. St.) 12:1 tells us: ''Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married (for he had married an [[Ethiopian]] woman).''

''Ethiopian'' need not be related to the region of modern Ethiopia. The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] (who lived in the 5th century b.C.) used the word for the peoples immediately South of ancient Egypt <ref> Herodotus: ''Histories'', Volume 2, 29 </ref>

== Notes ==

<references/>
[[category:anthropology]]

Kush

2007-08-22T02:28:37Z

Immaculada:

Kush is an ancient African country, located South of Egypt.

== History ==

Not much is known about the origins of Kush. Kush was part of a larger region called ''Nubia''. From 2000 b.C. on, there are numerous mentions of the country in Egyptian texts. Its northern frontier with Egypt was at [[Elephantine]]. The King of the [[Hyksos]], who ruled Egypt from around 1650 to 1550 b.C., asked the country's military support around 1600 b.C.. Because of its influence, later Egyptian Pharaos waged war against it, until it was defeated. From then on, more and more Kushites got involved in Egyptian political life. Kushite princes even took power in Egypt, to found its 25th ''Ethiopian'' Dynasty. Only two of their Pharaos are known by name: [[Alara]] and [[Kashta]].
The 25th Dynasty ended with the invasion by the [[Assyria|Assyrians]]. The Kushites then relocated their capital to the famous city of Meroe.

The evangelisation of Meroe is the story told in the Acts in the New Testament, in Chapter 8:26-39 .
The title of the female rulers of Meroe was ''Candace''. In the Acts we can read:

8:26: ''And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship ''

== References ==

* Davidson, B. Africa, History of A Continent, London, UK, 1966
* Leclant, J. The empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe, UNESCO General History of Africa
* Shinnie, P. L. Meroe, a civilization of the Sudan, London, UK, 1967

Kush

2007-08-22T02:27:40Z

Immaculada: started entry

Kush is an ancient African country, located South of Egypt.

== History ==

Not much is known about the origins of Kush. Kush was part of a larger region called ''Nubia''. From 2000 b.C. on, there are numerous mentions of the country in Egyptian texts. Its northern frontier with Egypt was at [[Elephantine]]. The King of the [[Hyksos]], who ruled Egypt from around 1650 to 1550 b.C., asked the country's military support around 1600 b.C.. Because of its influence, later Egyptian Pharaos waged war against it, until it was defeated. From then on, more and more Kushites got involved in Egyptian political life. Two Kushite princes even took power in Egypt, to found its 25th ''Ethiopian'' Dynasty. Only two of their Pharaos are known by name: [[Alara]] and [[Kashta]].
The 25th Dynasty ended with the invasion by the [[Assyria|Assyrians]]. The Kushites then relocated their capital to the famous city of Meroe.

The evangelisation of Meroe is the story told in the Acts in the New Testament, in Chapter 8:26-39 .
The title of the female rulers of Meroe was ''Candace''. In the Acts we can read:

8:26: ''And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship ''

== References ==

* Davidson, B. Africa, History of A Continent, London, UK, 1966
* Leclant, J. The empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe, UNESCO General History of Africa
* Shinnie, P. L. Meroe, a civilization of the Sudan, London, UK, 1967

Thutmose I

2007-08-22T01:58:27Z

Immaculada: stub 1

Thutmose I, or Thutmosis I is the third [[Pharao]] of the 18th [[Dynasty]] of [[Egypt]]. His predecessor was Amenhotep I. He ruled Egypt for 13 years, from either 1526 or 1506 b.C..

Kushite

2007-08-22T01:48:04Z

Immaculada: notes

A Kushite is someone descended from Ham, one of the sons of Noah. Kush was the
grandson of [[Noah]]. The word is sometimes associated with the peoples in the [[Horn of Africa]]. Kush, however, is an ancient country in the middle Nile Valley. [[Pharao]] [[Thutmosis]] I is known to have waged war against it around 1525 b.C.<ref>Steindorff, G., K. Seele. When Egypt Ruled the East, Chicago, 1942 </ref>.

The [[prophet]] [[Moses]] was married to a Kushite wife:

Numbers (Am. St.) 12:1 tells us: ''Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married (for he had married an [[Ethiopian]] woman).''

''Ethiopian'' need not be related to the region of modern Ethiopia. The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] (who lived in the 5th century b.C.) used the word for the peoples immediately South of ancient Egypt <ref> Herodotus: ''Histories'', Volume 2, 29 </ref>

== Notes ==

<references/>
[[category:anthropology]]

Kushite

2007-08-22T01:45:42Z

Immaculada: new

Palestine

2007-08-22T00:44:45Z

Immaculada: /* Ancient */ the promise

'''Palestine''' is the name given to the land of [[Israel]] by the [[Roman]]s and others.<ref>http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_early_palestine_name_origin.php</ref>.

Palestine (from Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשת‎ Pleshet, פלשתינה Palestina; Arabic: فلسطين‎ Filastīn, Falastīn) is one of many names for the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan. Many different definitions of the region have been in usage in the past three thousand years.

==Ancient==

Worth mentioning that the Philistines who at one time lived in part of the area were completely conquered by [[King David]].

Other English names for this region include: Canaan (Hebrew: כנען‎), Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל‎ Erets Yisrael), Judea (Hebrew: יהודה‎ yehuda), Holy Land (Hebrew: ארץ הקדש Erets Ha-Kodesh‎; Latin: Terra Sancta; Arabic: الأرض المقدسة‎ (Ard-al-Muqaddasah)and Cisjordan.

The Hebrew scriptures call the region Canaan when referring to the pre-Israelite period,(Hebrew: כּנען‎) and afterwards Israel (Yisrael). The name "Land of the Hebrews" (Hebrew: ארץ העברים‎, Eretz Ha-Ivrim) is also found. The wide area appears to be the habitat of the ancient ethnic Hebrews, though perhaps shared with other ethnic groups. The land of Canaan is part of the land given to the descendants of Abraham, which extends from the Nile to the Euphrates River (Genesis 15:18). Already in Genesis 12:6 and 7 we can read:
''And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land ''
This land is said to include an area called Aram Naharaim, which includes Haran in modern Turkey, from where Abraham the ancestor of the Israelites departed.

The events of the Four Gospels of the Bible take place entirely in Israel.

In the Qur'an, the term الأرض المقدسة ("Holy Land", Al-Ard Al-Muqaddasah) is mentioned at least seven times, once when Moses proclaims to the Children of Israel: "O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." (Surah 5:21)

==PNA==

Currently, the Palestinians living in the occupied territories, according to international law, are working to create a state called Palestine, whose creation is supported by a broad international consensus.

One of the names for this region over the years has been "Palestine". It bordered on the west by the Mediterranean, with a coastline that is 230 kilometers (km) long; on the east by Syria, with whom it shares a border of 70 km, and Jordan, with whom it shares a border of 360 km; on the north by Lebanon (and Syria), sharing with them a border of 79 km; and on the south by the Sinai and the Gulf of Aqaba<ref>[http://www.un.int/palestine/history/geo1.html Geography of "Palestine"]</ref>. The name "Palestine" never referred to a sovereign country. However this is the case prior to the creation of any state. Those who use this point in order to undermine the Palestinians claim to the land their ancestors have lived in for many generations never seem to apply this argument to any other Arab country that has been recently created, or any country for that matter.

The area Palestine is the home of many [[terrorist]] organizations, such as the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], [[Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade]] (related to [[Fatah]] [[Arafat]] & [[Abu Mazen]]), [[Hamas]], Arab Bank, [[Islamic Jihad]]

Former U.S. President [[Jimmy Carter]] has criticed the [[United States]] and [[Israel]] for not recognizing the victory of the [[terrorist]] organization, [[Hamas]], in parliamentary elections and a violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in which [[Fatah]] had been routed. <ref>[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1181813074587 Carter: Stop favoring Fatah over Hamas], ''Associated Press'', Jun. 19, 2007. Retreived from the Jerusalenm Post June 20, 2007.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Yasser Arafat]]

== References ==
<references/>
== See also ==

==External link==
*[http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1468wmv&ak=null Graduation Ceremony in a Hamas Kindergarten], Al-Aqsa TV (The Palestinian Authority), May 31 2007. Children vow to die for [[Allah]].
*[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56241 Christians warned: Accept Islamic law], 'New Hamas rule means real changes,' missionaries to be 'dealt with harshly', By Aaron Klein, ''WorldNetDaily.com'', June 19, 2007.

[[Category:Middle Eastern Countries]]

Palestine

2007-08-22T00:38:39Z

Immaculada: /* PNA */ definition territory

'''Palestine''' is the name given to the land of [[Israel]] by the [[Roman]]s and others.<ref>http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_early_palestine_name_origin.php</ref>.

Palestine (from Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשת‎ Pleshet, פלשתינה Palestina; Arabic: فلسطين‎ Filastīn, Falastīn) is one of many names for the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan. Many different definitions of the region have been in usage in the past three thousand years.

==Ancient==

Worth mentioning that the Philistines who at one time lived in part of the area were completely conquered by [[King David]].

Other English names for this region include: Canaan (Hebrew: כנען‎), Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל‎ Erets Yisrael), Judea (Hebrew: יהודה‎ yehuda), Holy Land (Hebrew: ארץ הקדש Erets Ha-Kodesh‎; Latin: Terra Sancta; Arabic: الأرض المقدسة‎ (Ard-al-Muqaddasah)and Cisjordan.

The Hebrew scriptures call the region Canaan when referring to the pre-Israelite period,(Hebrew: כּנען‎) and afterwards Israel (Yisrael). The name "Land of the Hebrews" (Hebrew: ארץ העברים‎, Eretz Ha-Ivrim) is also found. The wide area appears to be the habitat of the ancient ethnic Hebrews, though perhaps shared with other ethnic groups. The land of Canaan is part of the land given to the descendants of Abraham, which extends from the Nile to the Euphrates River (Genesis 15:18). This land is said to include an area called Aram Naharaim, which includes Haran in modern Turkey, from where Abraham the ancestor of the Israelites departed.

The events of the Four Gospels of the Bible take place entirely in Israel.

In the Qur'an, the term الأرض المقدسة ("Holy Land", Al-Ard Al-Muqaddasah) is mentioned at least seven times, once when Moses proclaims to the Children of Israel: "O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." (Surah 5:21)

==PNA==

Currently, the Palestinians living in the occupied territories, according to international law, are working to create a state called Palestine, whose creation is supported by a broad international consensus.

One of the names for this region over the years has been "Palestine". It bordered on the west by the Mediterranean, with a coastline that is 230 kilometers (km) long; on the east by Syria, with whom it shares a border of 70 km, and Jordan, with whom it shares a border of 360 km; on the north by Lebanon (and Syria), sharing with them a border of 79 km; and on the south by the Sinai and the Gulf of Aqaba<ref>[http://www.un.int/palestine/history/geo1.html Geography of "Palestine"]</ref>. The name "Palestine" never referred to a sovereign country. However this is the case prior to the creation of any state. Those who use this point in order to undermine the Palestinians claim to the land their ancestors have lived in for many generations never seem to apply this argument to any other Arab country that has been recently created, or any country for that matter.

The area Palestine is the home of many [[terrorist]] organizations, such as the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], [[Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade]] (related to [[Fatah]] [[Arafat]] & [[Abu Mazen]]), [[Hamas]], Arab Bank, [[Islamic Jihad]]

Former U.S. President [[Jimmy Carter]] has criticed the [[United States]] and [[Israel]] for not recognizing the victory of the [[terrorist]] organization, [[Hamas]], in parliamentary elections and a violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in which [[Fatah]] had been routed. <ref>[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1181813074587 Carter: Stop favoring Fatah over Hamas], ''Associated Press'', Jun. 19, 2007. Retreived from the Jerusalenm Post June 20, 2007.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Yasser Arafat]]

== References ==
<references/>
== See also ==

==External link==
*[http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1468wmv&ak=null Graduation Ceremony in a Hamas Kindergarten], Al-Aqsa TV (The Palestinian Authority), May 31 2007. Children vow to die for [[Allah]].
*[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56241 Christians warned: Accept Islamic law], 'New Hamas rule means real changes,' missionaries to be 'dealt with harshly', By Aaron Klein, ''WorldNetDaily.com'', June 19, 2007.

[[Category:Middle Eastern Countries]]

Noah

2007-08-21T21:36:43Z

Immaculada: /* Life */ cit

According to [[Genesis]], '''Noah''' ([[Hebrew]] '''נוֹחַ'''), the son of [[Lamech]] was commanded by [[God]] to build an ark to save his family and representatives of all the world's land animals while God destroyed the wicked world with a flood<ref>Gen. 6:6</ref>.
The story of Noah is found in the [[Bible]] in chapters 6 to 9 of [[Genesis]] and he is described as one of the 'Heroes of Faith' in [[Book of Hebrews|Hebrews]] chapter 11.<ref>He is also mentioned in the [[chronogenealogy]] of Genesis 5 and mentioned by Isaiah and Peter.</ref>

== Life ==

God saw that man had become wicked in every inclination and thought and the earth was filled with violence, but Noah alone was righteous. God commanded Noah to build an [[Noah's Ark|ark]] that would have seven (or seven pairs) of every "clean" ([[kosher]]) animal and two of every unclean animal Noah did as he was told and spent many years building the ark, and God flooded the earth with rain from above and waters from within the earth. Noah was 600 years old when the flood started. After the flood waters had subsided, (which lasted almost a year), Noah came out of the Ark. Noah made sacrifices to God and God formed a new covenant with Noah where he promised never again to flood the earth. Noah planted a vineyard and drank of the wine until he fell asleep naked in his tent. [[Ham]], the father of [[Canaan]], saw him and told his two brothers, but left his father as he was. The two brothers, upon hearing Ham's pronouncement, took a garment and walked backwards into their father's tent and covered his nakedness without looking at him. When Noah awoke, he cursed Canaan, his grandson, for he "knew what his younger son had done unto him."<REF>Bible, King James Version, Genesis 9: 24,25</REF>. Noah lived 350 more years before dying.

All people alive today must be descendents of [[Family of Noah|Noah and his family]]: Genesis (KJV) 7:13: In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark. 7:23: And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

== Biblical Account and World Flood Myths ==
Proponents of Biblical literalism have pointed out that many cultures have a tradition of a global flood and that the biblical account has many commonalities with the world's flood myths. They have argued that this supports the likelihood of the flood being a real event.<ref>Morris, John, [http://www.icr.org/article/570/ Why Does Nearly Every Culture Have a Tradition of a Global Flood?] (ICR)</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Noah's Ark]]
*[[Great Flood]]

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Biblical persons]]

Fig

2007-08-21T21:16:53Z

Immaculada:

'''Fig''' is the common name for the genus ''Ficus,'' consisting of about 800 species of woody trees, shrubs and vines in the family Moraceae, native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the warm temperate zone. Figs are mentioned frequently in the Bible.

One famous example of figs in the Bible is:

''Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.'' -- Matthew 21:18-21

''And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon, and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.'' ---
''And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.'' -- Mark (KJV) 11:12-14, 11:20-23

[[Category:Fruits]]
[[Category:Trees]]
[[Category:Food and drink]]

Palestinian Arabs

2007-08-21T21:04:50Z

Immaculada: /* See also */ link definition

{{Uncited}}'''Palestinian Arabs''' refers to those [[Arab]]s who migrated into [[Palestine]] (former and present-day [[Israel]]) beginning in the late 19th century, and who had no cultural nor national distinctive traits separating them from [[Syria]]ns, [[Lebanon|Lebanese]], and [[Jordan]]ians. The term "Palestinian" itself had referred to Israeli [[Judaism|Jews]] until the 1940s, but in subsequent years has been deconstructed and redefined to refer to the Arabs in the occupied territories of the [[West Bank]] (also known as [[Judea and Samarra]], as referred to by Prime Minister Menachem Begin in his West Bank policy) and [[Gaza]].

==See also==
*[[Oslo Accords]]
*[http://www.un.int/palestine/PLO/PNAcharter.html Article 5 and 6 of the Palestinian Charter]

[[category:ethnicities]]

Palestinian Arabs

2007-08-20T16:18:53Z

Immaculada: cit

Buddhism

2007-08-20T00:53:17Z

Immaculada: /* View of God */

'''Buddhism''' is the fifth largest [[list of religions based on followers|religion in the world]].{{fact}} It is a belief system which teaches that desire causes suffering and if desire is eliminated, [[Buddhist enlightenment|enlightenment]] and [[Nirvana]] are attained. Buddhism is a [[Dharmic religion]]. The term buddha means "the enlightened one."

==Founder==

Buddhism's foundations lie with an Indian prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who, after being sheltered until adulthood, finally observed the suffering of his people. After that he worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. He studied a number of the disciplines of the day, seeking ultimate truth. After finding other approaches to understanding lacking, he went into meditation for 49 days, vowing not to move until he had attained enlightenment. After great personal struggle he achieved enlightenment, and began to teach the principles that are now associated with Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in [[Hinduism]] and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

==View of God==

Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that gods exist, but does not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about God is pointless. Buddhists' priorities are release from suffering and direct experience of the true nature of reality. Many modern strains of Buddhism are [[atheist|atheistic]] in nature, thus creating a paradox as to why they are called a religion. They can be considered to be philosophies of life. Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

==Teachings==

The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought described by the Buddha as follows:
<blockquote>''"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''</blockquote>

Buddhism is a very practical philosophy, which teaches us to focus our attention on personal experience, to determine what is the cause of our discontents ([[dukkha]]) and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing [[metta]], which is universal, unconditional love, and [[karuna]], which roughly translates to 'compassion', towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the [[Four Noble Truths.]]<ref>http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/what_about_god.htm</ref>

Regardless belief in Buddhist teachings does not exclude belief in other religions. For example there are Buddhist [[Christians]] who follow the religious teachings of [[Christ]] and also incorporate the philosophical teachings of Buddhism.

==See Also==
[[Nihilism]]

==References==

<References/>

[[Category:Buddhism]]

Mysticism

2007-08-19T02:37:09Z

Immaculada: started stub for this important subject. I hope it will grow !!

Mysticism is the idea that special mental states allow the communion with, or direct experience of, God. Mystics can use texts which are, or are not, canonical, like the [[Book_of_Revelation|Book of Revelation]]. Practices leading to this state are prayer, fasting and self-denial.

The mystical tradition is 2000 years old. Important texts are:

Galatians 2:20
: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me
1 John 3:2
: Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
II Peter 1:4
: exceedingly great and precious promises [are given unto us]; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
: I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Some mystics are [[John_the_Baptist|John the Baptist]], Saint [[Peter]], Francis of Assisi, T. S. Eliot, and Vernon Howard.

== References ==

[http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Mysticism.htm Mysticism in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society]

[http://www.ccg.org/english/s/b7_4.html Mysticism, Christian Churches of God ]

Talk:Islam

2007-08-19T01:44:23Z

Immaculada: illiteracy

Fine then. If this MUST contain mention of paganism, I'll go mention it in Christianity as well. It isn't false...

The first section of this article is factual.

The second half appears to be opinion. It is not a description of what U. S. policy is or has been, but of what the writer thinks it should be. Some statements in it ("The religion of Islam is one of the most, if not the most, violent religion in the world") seem far from objective. After all, it was not Muslims who started the Crusades. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 20:19, 8 February 2007 (EST)

"a substantial minority of accredited Western scholars believe that some Muslim beliefs, like those of the early Roman Catholic Church, system can be traced back to distinctly polytheistic antecedents" - This seems to be the sort of phrase that is attacked in Wikipedia. Every odd ball opinion can be traced to somewhere, but this is not worthy in the main article - in regard to Islam or Catholicism. [[user:stevendavy]]

The article has one major flaw, and that is that it distinguishes Allah as a separate god from that which is followed in the other abrahamic religions. This is fundamentally incorrect, The Christian, Jewish and Muslim god is the same god. The quote given is actually Sura 5: 77 and the Qu'ran is not contesting that a Christian god was another god, merely that Jesus was not the son of god but instead a prophet, thus, to claim that Jesus was the son of god in that sense is incorrect according to Muslims. Interestingly the quoted Sura 5: 73 actually reads "They who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabeites and the Christians - whoever of them believeth in God and in the last day, and doth what is right, on them shall come no fear, neither shall they be put to grief". Not quite so intolerant I think you'll agree. [[user:djtheblade]]

It seems to me that discussion of Islam in the context of "pig gods" is a subtle method of defamation. Rather than kitschy little tidbits of information, it would be nice to see a comprehensive list of facts including the pillars, the Sunni, Shi'i split, and Sharia.

I agree - it seems unnecessary and insulting. Why not remove it? - there is a good deal of more useful information that is left out of this article. [[User:Cletje|Cletje]]

:We should get rid of this rubbish. It may confuse those people who don't understand. It also tries to make fun of an important subject. --[[User:Czolgosz]] 12:07, 29 March 2007 (EDT) 14:31, 30 March 2007 (EDT)

== There is still misleading information in here ==

I realize this is an emotional subject for many, but if the conservapedia can't manage to weed out the misleading and biased information, it will end up as the laughingstock that so many already assume it will become.

The end of the first paragraph says that Islam is growing quickly "mostly" because of high fecundity rates. Most data shows that high reproductive rates are important, but they are in parts of Africa, Asia, and South America where Christianity is showing its greatest gains as well. It's debatable whether there are more conversions from Christianity to Islam than vice versa (citing an interview with one person is not good evidence!), but both get most of their conversions from non judeo-christian-islam religions. So what possible point can there be for including this, except to make the conservapedia look biased?

What, you think conservapedia ISN'T Biased? Ha, considering it was set up as a reaction to the so called liberalized Wikipedia, it's done a pretty poor job of presenting fair and unbiased arguments. Conservapedia is just a polar opposite, it's not balanced at all.

::I agree and it makes me very disappointed. [[User:Everwill|Everwill]] 13:35, 18 April 2007 (EDT)

:::I see nothing wrong with either source making the claim Christian conversions outstrip conversions to Islam. [[User:RobS|RobS]] 15:18, 18 April 2007 (EDT)

== We should not shy away from speaking the Truth!!! ==

Conservapedia shouldn't be biased in a bad way, but we should definitely be putting across our point of view. It is obvious that Jesus was the son of G-d, and so any parts of Islam which contradict Christianity must be considered false. This page should also contain evidence that Christianity and not Islam is the one true faith. Surely we should not shy away from speaking the truth!!! -Mmeelliissssaa

Its obvious that Jesus was the son of God - that is in sense that Jesus is part of triad that is comprised of 3 equal parts, hence Jesus is God? Really! It was not even obvious to early Christians that this was the case. - anyone aware of the history of Christianity is aware of this. I suggest you Google "the Arian crisis" to find out more. If You mean that Jesus is the son of God, and the word son defines his rank with respect to God - that is less than, and seperate from, God, then you are outside the orthodox tradition, and are an Arian Christian. Not that I have a dog in this fight, I am an atheist. Yet your bias and question-begging(i,e. your conclusion that Islam must be false is based upon your presuppostion that your belief is true) needed to be attacked.

:Perhaps you would like to discuss one of our [[Debate topics]]. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 13:10, 18 April 2007 (EDT)

Perhaps she would like to acknowledge that her interpretation of 'the one true faith' is still entirely subjective. Salvation may be shared in a community but it is still a subjective and singular experience. It's not 'obvious' that Jesus was the son of god, that is merely your opinion, that would be like me saying that it is 'obvious' that creationism is false because popular scientific consensus says so. I'm not quick to dismiss people's opinions and outlooks on life, but I don't pass my own opinions off as undisputed objective fact. Your 'truth' is your personal salvation and not necessarily the same truth that other's will rejoice in.

:Perhaps we should focus on building an encyclopedic page about Islam, and leave the rants out. That can go at [[Criticism of Islam]]. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 12:29, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

==Five Pillars==
We should make clear these are the five '''Sunni''' pillars of Islam. The Shia Twelvers replace Shahadah with Wilayah. The Ismali have seven pillars, as do the Druze. Just lumping all of Islam together like this is like saying all Christians believe in transubstantiation.--[[User:Dave3172|Dave3172]] 13:32, 18 April 2007 (EDT)
:I thought that the "twelvers" were the Imams themselves. Does this mean that their laws replace the pillars? I am not well-versed on this aspect, perhaps you could add information, Dave. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 12:31, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

Jihad, the "sixth" pillar, needs to be mentioned. And not jihad as in holy war against infidels, I mean jihad as including the personal and public jihads. [[User:ColinR|ColinR]][[User_talk:ColinR|talk]] 04:56, 23 April 2007 (EDT)
: Isn't it greater (ie the struggle to reform the self) and lesser (ie the struggle to reform the Muslim community) Jihad? Oh, and it's not the 'sixth pillar', by any stretch. The Five Pillars are the Five Pillars. Wikinterpreter'''[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Wikinterpreter talk?]

==Spelling==

The apostrophe in "Qur'an" is between the "r" and "a," not after the "u." [[User:Ylmw21|Ylmw21]] 23:14, 23 April 2007 (EDT)

== Islam and Judaism ==

There are title headings for Islam and Christianity as well as Islam and Paganism, but nothing for Islam and Judaism? I realize this is a sensitive topic, but by avoiding it aren't we leaving an incomplete article? [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 18:33, 15 May 2007 (EDT)

==Muslims believe in the Resurrection==

Muslims do, in fact, believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Can someone change this, please?

:If I recall correctly, Muslims do not believe in the resurrection as portrayed in the Bible. If it would be changed, it needs to be properly specified what to put. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 02:06, 25 June 2007 (EDT)

Muslims believe that Jesus would judge during Judgement day with their prophet {{unsigned|Kaviii}}

== Islam and Paganism ==

I suggest either someone remove this section or show the other side of the arguement. This claim about Muslims worshipping a moon deity call Allah and Islam and it's moon-cult links have been refuted in this web site

http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Sources/Allah/moongod.html

{{unsigned|Kaviii}}

I agree. Startoman24

== Changing "Allah" to "God" ==

I should point out that while this would normally seem to make sense, that in Islam the title "Allah" goes beyond cultural Arabic. Islamic services in languages other than Arabic still use the title Allah. Conservations with Muslims either verbal or written will still see the use of the proper Allah.

I would say some mention should be made of this in the first paragraph before we make use of God throughout. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 14:50, 11 August 2007 (EDT)

== Human Sacrifice ==
I move that the line referring to early Islamic Human sacrifice should be removed because it states in the line that the claims are unverified, so they aren't fact. And an encyclopedia should post facts.

== revelation and transcription ==

Where it says ''revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, and despite his illiteracy, caused him to transcribe it '', it should add that in actual fact the Quran was first memorized by professional remembrancers, written down in an improvised way later, to be compiled years later. Believe in a miracle is one thing, information on the actual history should be a second [[User:Immaculada|Immaculada]] 21:44, 18 August 2007 (EDT)

Talk:Trinity

2007-08-19T01:12:34Z

Immaculada: trinity in hinduism and islam

== I changed the title of the article due to long term interest. Search engines searches will be for "trinity" and not "Holy Trinity" ==

I changed the title of the article due to long term interest. Search engines searches will be for "trinity" and not "Holy Trinity" [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:27, 7 June 2007 (EDT)

== also, i deleted a pic because there appeared to be no associated pic ==

also, i deleted a pic because there appeared to be no associated pic. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:48, 7 June 2007 (EDT)

==islam: no Holy Trinity==

I think it should be made clear on islam that they do not understand trinity as we Christians do. Here are the references:
God is '' the Lord of the heavens and the earth, who has begotten no children '' (Koran 25:2) and '' The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, was no more than allah's apostle ... '' This is, of course, because they do not have the Trinity concept: '' So believe in allah and His apostles and do not say: Three. ... allah forbid that He Should have a son! ''(Koran 4:171).

== hinduism ==

Shouldn't there be a parallel with [[hinduism]]: one god, but in multiple manifestations ? It is in the hinduism entry of conservapedia

Buddhism

2007-08-18T23:22:22Z

Immaculada: correct ref error

'''Buddhism''' is the fifth largest [[list of religions based on followers|religion in the world]].{{fact}} It is a belief system which teaches that desire causes suffering and if desire is eliminated, [[Buddhist enlightenment|enlightenment]] and [[Nirvana]] are attained. Buddhism is a [[Dharmic religion]]. The term buddha means "the enlightened one."

==Founder==

Buddhism's foundations lie with an Indian prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who, after being sheltered until adulthood, finally observed the suffering of his people. After that he worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. He studied a number of the disciplines of the day, seeking ultimate truth. After finding other approaches to understanding lacking, he went into meditation for 49 days, vowing not to move until he had attained enlightenment. After great personal struggle he achieved enlightenment, and began to teach the principles that are now associated with Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in [[Hinduism]] and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

==View of God==

Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that gods exist, but does not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about God is pointless. Many modern strains of Buddhism are [[atheist|atheistic]] in nature, thus creating a paradox as to why they are called a religion. This is just a paradox because [[religion]] can be defined so as not to include a concept of a god. <ref>[Religion|Definition of religion]</ref>Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

==Teachings==

The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought described by the Buddha as follows:
<blockquote>''"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''</blockquote>

Buddhism is a very practical philosophy, which teaches us to focus our attention on personal experience, to determine what is the cause of our discontents ([[dukkha]]) and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing [[metta]], which is universal, unconditional love, and [[karuna]], which roughly translates to 'compassion', towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the [[Four Noble Truths.]]<ref>http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/what_about_god.htm</ref>

Regardless belief in Buddhist teachings does not exclude belief in other religions. For example there are Buddhist [[Christians]] who follow the religious teachings of [[Christ]] and also incorporate the philosophical teachings of Buddhism.

==See Also==
[[Nihilism]]

==References==

<References/>

[[Category:Buddhism]]

Buddhism

2007-08-18T23:21:22Z

Immaculada: /* View of God */

'''Buddhism''' is the fifth largest [[list of religions based on followers|religion in the world]].{{fact}} It is a belief system which teaches that desire causes suffering and if desire is eliminated, [[Buddhist enlightenment|enlightenment]] and [[Nirvana]] are attained. Buddhism is a [[Dharmic religion]]. The term buddha means "the enlightened one."

==Founder==

Buddhism's foundations lie with an Indian prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who, after being sheltered until adulthood, finally observed the suffering of his people. After that he worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. He studied a number of the disciplines of the day, seeking ultimate truth. After finding other approaches to understanding lacking, he went into meditation for 49 days, vowing not to move until he had attained enlightenment. After great personal struggle he achieved enlightenment, and began to teach the principles that are now associated with Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in [[Hinduism]] and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

==View of God==

Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that gods exist, but does not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about God is pointless. Many modern strains of Buddhism are [[atheist|atheistic]] in nature, thus creating a paradox as to why they are called a religion. This is just a paradox because [[religion]] can be defined so as not to include a concept of a god. <ref>[Religion[Definition of religion]</ref>Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

==Teachings==

The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought described by the Buddha as follows:
<blockquote>''"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''</blockquote>

Buddhism is a very practical philosophy, which teaches us to focus our attention on personal experience, to determine what is the cause of our discontents ([[dukkha]]) and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing [[metta]], which is universal, unconditional love, and [[karuna]], which roughly translates to 'compassion', towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the [[Four Noble Truths.]]<ref>http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/what_about_god.htm</ref>

Regardless belief in Buddhist teachings does not exclude belief in other religions. For example there are Buddhist [[Christians]] who follow the religious teachings of [[Christ]] and also incorporate the philosophical teachings of Buddhism.

==See Also==
[[Nihilism]]

==References==

<References/>

[[Category:Buddhism]]

Buddhism

2007-08-18T23:20:45Z

Immaculada: /* View of God */ compatibility with the religion definition in conservapedia

'''Buddhism''' is the fifth largest [[list of religions based on followers|religion in the world]].{{fact}} It is a belief system which teaches that desire causes suffering and if desire is eliminated, [[Buddhist enlightenment|enlightenment]] and [[Nirvana]] are attained. Buddhism is a [[Dharmic religion]]. The term buddha means "the enlightened one."

==Founder==

Buddhism's foundations lie with an Indian prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who, after being sheltered until adulthood, finally observed the suffering of his people. After that he worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. He studied a number of the disciplines of the day, seeking ultimate truth. After finding other approaches to understanding lacking, he went into meditation for 49 days, vowing not to move until he had attained enlightenment. After great personal struggle he achieved enlightenment, and began to teach the principles that are now associated with Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in [[Hinduism]] and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

==View of God==

Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that gods exist, but does not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about God is pointless. Many modern strains of Buddhism are [[atheist|atheistic]] in nature, thus creating a paradox as to why they are called a religion. This is just a paradox because [[religion]] can be defined so as not to include a concept of a god. <ref>[[Religion[Definition of religion]]</ref>Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

==Teachings==

The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought described by the Buddha as follows:
<blockquote>''"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''</blockquote>

Buddhism is a very practical philosophy, which teaches us to focus our attention on personal experience, to determine what is the cause of our discontents ([[dukkha]]) and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing [[metta]], which is universal, unconditional love, and [[karuna]], which roughly translates to 'compassion', towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the [[Four Noble Truths.]]<ref>http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/what_about_god.htm</ref>

Regardless belief in Buddhist teachings does not exclude belief in other religions. For example there are Buddhist [[Christians]] who follow the religious teachings of [[Christ]] and also incorporate the philosophical teachings of Buddhism.

==See Also==
[[Nihilism]]

==References==

<References/>

[[Category:Buddhism]]

User talk:Immaculada

2007-08-18T23:01:46Z

Immaculada: Me

Hello

I am Maria and very interested in how other people experience their religion. I have found that sometimes they are very close to Christian believes and practices, and then I point that out to them.

Zoroastrianism

2007-08-18T22:59:16Z

Immaculada: practices adopted and link tinyurl.com/39f25k

'''Zoroastrianism''' is a monotheistic religion founded by [[Zoroaster]] in what is now [[Iran]]. It describes life as a struggle between good and evil with the expectation that good will ultimately prevail. The central divine being is called ''Ahura Mazda'' and was associated by Zoroaster to the idea of a creator of all, who had not been created himself. The sacred text is called [[Zend Avesta]].

==History==
Zoroastrianism was created by [[Zoroaster]] around 1200 B.C.. The religion was popular amongst the tribes of [[Persia]], though was popularized when it was made the state religion of the [[Sassanid Empire]]. It quickly declined when the forces of Islam overran Persia and the population became Islamic. In the 21st century, Zoroastrianism is practiced by around 140,000 people around the world.<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/zoroastr.htm Zoroastrianism]</ref>
The religion has had formative influence on the [[Abrahamic_religions|Abrahamic]] and Vedic religions and Buddhism.

The religion itself is practiced by very few nowadays, but, in history, it has had its influence on other religions.
Some of the religion's contributions to [[Christianity]] are: The practices of baptism, communion (for [[Catholic_church|Catholics]]) , the idea of guardian angles and of the journey of the soul to heaven or hell, and the [[Trinity]]<ref> pre-islamic Persian Studies: Zoroastrian influence: www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Zarathushtrian/zoroastrianism_influence.htm</ref>

Zoroastrianism and monotheistic [[Judaism]] developed at the same time: at the time of the [[Exodus]], the Jewish people were clearly polytheistic (witness [[Exodus]] or [[Baal|Judges]]), and became monotheistic later, at a time Zarathustra also had professed his monotheism. According to the "Documentary Hypothesis" an important part of our [[Old_Testament|Old Testament]] was written when the Jewish people were in exile, in the 6th century b.C., and open to Persian influence.

==References==
<references/>
Black, Matthew & H. H. Rowley, eds. (1982), Peake's Commentary on the Bible, New York

Boyce, Mary (1979), Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, London: Routledge

[[Category:Religion]]